Postdoctoral Scientist - Svendsen Lab - Regenerative Medicine Institute

Cedars-Sinai • Los Angeles, CA

6h • $62,400 - $93,600 • Onsite

About The Position

The Svendsen Lab at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Regenerative Medicine Institute is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist to contribute to groundbreaking research in neurodegenerative diseases. The lab utilizes human stem cell models and cell-based technologies to understand and develop new treatments, with a primary focus on Parkinson's disease (PD). This role will involve working with patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to model young-onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) and explore precision medicine approaches. The successful candidate will differentiate iPSCs into midbrain dopaminergic neuronal cultures for functional, molecular, and biochemical studies, investigating how genetic and molecular backgrounds influence neuronal phenotypes, disease vulnerability, and responses to therapeutic interventions. The work is part of collaborative programs integrating iPSC-derived neuronal phenotypes with multi-omic and clinical data from PD cohorts, offering an opportunity to work at the intersection of stem cell biology, neuroscience, human genetics, and translational precision medicine. The Postdoctoral Scientist will work independently under the guidance of the Principal Investigator, designing and performing experiments, developing new methods, analyzing data, and contributing to publications and presentations.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a relevant scientific field.
• Experience with human stem cell models, particularly induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
• Experience in neuroscience, with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson's disease.
• Proficiency in differentiating stem cells into neuronal cultures, specifically midbrain dopaminergic neurons.
• Experience with quantitative phenotyping using biochemical, molecular, imaging, and functional assays.
• Familiarity with investigating disease-relevant phenotypes such as α-synuclein biology, lysosomal and autophagic function, mitochondrial function, cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, neuronal activity, and dopamine production/release.
• Experience with evaluating neuronal responses to stressors and therapeutic interventions.
• Ability to perform or coordinate functional characterization using techniques like multi-electrode array analysis, neurotransmitter measurements, and high-content imaging.
• Experience integrating experimental findings with multi-omic (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic) and clinical datasets.
• Skill in developing, optimizing, and validating experimental techniques and protocols.
• Strong analytical and interpretation skills for experimental results.
• Excellent record-keeping and documentation abilities.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a research team.
• Strong communication skills for scientific writing and presentations.
• Experience with scientific manuscript preparation, abstracts, and presentations.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with precision medicine approaches.
• Familiarity with computational investigators and data analysis.
• Experience in preparing grant proposals.

Responsibilities

• Designs and performs experiments using human iPSC-derived neuronal models, with a primary focus on midbrain dopaminergic neurons and Parkinson’s disease.
• Maintains, differentiates, and characterizes patient-derived iPSC lines and neural cultures.
• Performs quantitative phenotyping of neuronal cultures using biochemical, molecular, imaging, and functional assays.
• Investigates disease-relevant phenotypes including alterations in α-synuclein biology, lysosomal and autophagic function, mitochondrial function, cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, neuronal activity, and dopamine production and release.
• Evaluates neuronal responses to disease-relevant stressors and candidate therapeutic interventions to identify patient- or pathway-specific differences in vulnerability and rescue.
• Performs or coordinates functional characterization using approaches such as multi-electrode array analysis, neurotransmitter measurements, high-content imaging, and related assays.
• Integrates experimental findings with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and clinical datasets generated through collaborative studies.
• Develops, optimizes, and validates new experimental techniques and protocols as required by the research program.
• Maintains detailed experimental records and appropriate documentation and ensures rigorous, reproducible data collection.
• Analyzes, interprets, summarizes, and presents experimental results in collaboration with the Principal Investigator and research team.
• Participates in preparation of scientific manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and grant applications.
• Collaborates closely with scientists, clinicians, computational investigators, research associates, technicians, and students across multidisciplinary research programs.
• Designs and performs both routine and complex laboratory procedures.
• Develops and adapts new experimental methods.
• Analyzes and interprets data.
• Contributes to manuscripts, presentations, and collaborative research projects.
• Operates and maintains equipment and instruments.
• May observe MD-patient or MD-human research subject interactions as it pertains directly to research being performed.

Benefits

• Ranked as one of the top hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
• Shared culture of happiness, passion, and dedication.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree